204 THE BEAUFORT BEDS 



Elizabeth at about the same horizon as that described 

 by Green, but farther east in the Transkei it has not 

 been seen. The true significance of these observations 

 must remain uncertain till the Eastern Province has 

 been connected with the Western by means of syste- 

 matic mapping. 



The Lower Beaufort beds thus form almost the whole 

 of the mountainous portion of the Western Karroo. 

 Some of the higher zones of this division are represented 

 in Fraserburg, and as far as can be judged the strata there 

 form an outlier, for the same horizons only come in 

 again to the east of Murraysburg. 



The Middle Beaufort beds are characterised by the pre- 

 dominance of the aquatic reptilian genus Lystrosaurus 

 and the fish Atherstonia, but it is not yet known whether 

 the strata containing these fossils can be separated 

 lithologically from the Lower Beaufort. This division 

 appears around Middelburg, Naauwpoort and Cradock 

 and' extends north-eastwards past Bethulie into the 

 Orange River Colony at least as far as Senekal, and in 

 an easterly direction along the Winterberg into the 

 Transkei. The zone evidently strikes in a north-easterly 

 direction through the Native Territories, for the remains 

 of Lystrosaurus have been discovered in Natal. 



Around Naauwpoort there are thick yellow defining 

 sandstones with intercalated greenish shales and mud- 

 stones, the latter being at places purple in colour. Near 

 Alandale station there are peculiar sky-blue coloured 

 sandstones. 



The Upper Beaufort or Burghersdorp beds are entirely 



